Chương 28: LOG-026.

I'd been one of the first to disembark from the Nemesis after we'd breached atmosphere, leading a team of Seekers down towards Nevada's desert below. The flight was a peaceful, if brief one. I'd insisted on leaving the groundbridge open to others, in order to save time.

Considering Optimus and Soundwave would both soon be busy searching for an alternate entrance we could use to actually reach the Earth's core alongside working to inform the American government that yes the Decepticons were helping out right now so don't shoot at them please.. well. I felt it a prudent decision, to say the least.

"Commander Shockwave, friendly forces spotted on the plateau ahead of us." I tore myself from my inner thoughts, glancing at the indicated area. Indeed, below stood a certain bestial femme, flanked by a pair of Zakus. Advancing ahead of the formation, I allowed my frame to undergo the pleasant process of transformation, flipping midair and landing near the edge of the rocky outcropping. As I stepped forward, several vehicons also landed behind me, some of them sporting the beginnings of their upgrades.

I was still working on a Seeker friendly alt mode for my Zakus, after all, which meant that the ones who earned their 'reforging' would have to settle for enhanced parts and a brief dip in a special energon solution to begin the enlargement of their sparks before I could fully reformat them. Just more work to do. Story of my fucking life.

"Indomina."

"Creator!" If the predacon's approach was a bit rushed, no one made any comments. Instead, I inspected her oddly shiny frame as she took a knee before me, bowing her helm and presenting a-"Ah. Perfect. Excellent work Indomina." Taking the faux-bone from her servos, I stepped past the kneeling femme.

"And get up off your knees. You're going to get dust in your joints." I heard her stand up, beginning to follow behind me as I advanced down a short 'ramp' that sort of jutted out in between a pair of large rocks. The rest of my little retinue followed along as well.

"Yes, right as always creator! Ah-if you'd just follow me, I can show you the preliminary sight for your laboratory?" Pausing, I turned to regard the strangely... jittery predacon. Hm. Inclining my helm, I gestured ahead of us.

"Please lead the way." Indomina smiled.

"And as you can see, the cavern's ceiling is quite high-just in case any of my future brothers or sisters prove larger than average." I nodded along, glancing around. It wasn't a bad spot, honestly. Plenty of room. Well hidden. Yes, I could work with this. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I stopped, turning to face a nervous looking Indomina.

"You've done well." I waved a servo at one of the vehicons, already beginning to mentally plan the layout of the machines I'd soon install here.

"Contact the Nemesis and inform them that they are to settle above our current coordinates. A turbo-lift will prove necessary to transport the relevant materials and machinery." Turning around, I made to walk off.

"Ah-creator?" Pausing, I turned to regard my creation.

"Yes, Indomina?" The large predacon shifted in place slightly, clawed digits tensing at her sides.

"I was just... wondering something." Tilting my helm, I allowed my arms to cross.

"Yes? Is there something you require?" Those golden optics bored into my own as she leaned forward slightly.

"I am your favoured creation... right?"... Huh? I waved a servo at her.

"Please elaborate." The killing machine squirmed.

"Well it's just... while I was working planetside I eventually wound up connecting to the human 'internet' so I could better search for my fellow predacons' remains and-" Oh dear.

"-well I stumbled upon the human concept of familial units and the hierarchy present in such and-" Hopefully this wouldn't prove an issue moving forward.

"-I figured that as the closest equivalent you would have to a child I would be considered higher ranking compared to your newer creations-" The femme went silent as I held up a servo.

"Yes, you are my favourite. You are loyal. You breathe fire and you turn into a dragon. These are traits I find most pleasing." Not touching that. Nope. The relief on her face was just a little ridiculous, in my opinion. But oh well, whatever made her happy I supposed. Turning back around, I walked off to inspect the rest of the cavern, ignoring the high pitched noise sounding out behind me. Mhm. Bomb defused. Go Shockwave.

Progress was... progressing. The Nemesis had arrived, hovering a fair bit above my little off-site lab while it dropped down it's attached turbo-lift and began to unload the materials I'd need to begin my work. We'd effectively drilled through the 'ceiling' in order to let the glowing tube lower down into the cavern. A bit of a vulnerability, but this place was temporary at best and the Autobots were allies at the moment so it was an acceptable risk.

Additionally, someone had also decided to fuck me over, because Backbite was sent down along with the supplies. Several vehicons and Zakus holding energon cubes stepped back from the lift, while the large predacon stomped out of the elevator and turned to sniff at me. I slowly panned my helm around to stare at the other predacon in the cavern. Indomina's expression was... complicated. To say the least. The femme slowly walked forward, approaching to inspect the newcomer.

"Is this...?" I nodded, also stepping forward.

"A predacon, yes. Though I would not consider it your sibling if that's what you're thinking. I gave the blue hunter a pat on the side of the neck as I continued." This is the reformatted and reprogrammed form of Starscream. Now Backbite. Besides, his intelligence level is quite a bit below yours in direct comparison. More of a beast than a warrior." She let out a quiet "oh" before stepping backwards.

"Then... why is he here?" I shrugged, idly reaching into my subspace to pull out some energon pellets.

"An excellent question, I will have to ask the command staff next time I'm onboard the ship." Hm, these were old ones. Then again Backbite definitely seemed to prefer traditional intake of energon compared to my first predacon. Probably remnants of Starscream's subconscious behavioural patterns. I'd need to prune those the next time I got a chance to patch into the beast's processor. Holding out the small treats, I allowed Backbite to scan them for a moment before effectively hoovering them out of my servo.

His snack finished, the reforged cybertronian wandered off to go look at the construction work going on around him. Or something. Turning back around, I paused at Indomina's oddly intense stare.

"... yes?" She tilted her helm toward my servo.

"I would like some pellets too, creator." I stared. She stared.

"Those are a specially prepared form of energon designed to fuel frames that are either still settling from growth periods or modified endoforms like Backbite's. You do not require pellets, Indomina." The femme crossed her arms. Pouting. Oh Primus.

"I am feeling nostalgic, creator. I would also request a patting upon my helm." Then she promptly shifted into her altmode, staring down at me in her draconic form. The fact that this was the femme that had saved my aft from a dark energon fueled Megatron did not escape me. Sigh. I resigned myself to rubbing one of the predacon's shivering mandibles, even as I searched my subspace for any leftover pellets appropriate for consumption....

Besides, it wasn't like I had anything else to do till the initial machinery was set up and plugged in. Nothing urgent anyway. That was my excuse and I was sticking with it. Stupid human memories. Making this far more complicated than it needed to be. Even if later sitting down in a nearby corner with the dragon's large helm resting in my lap did bring back a few memories of before everything became so complicated.

Back when all we had to worry about was scavenging for energon and ensuring a far smaller Indomina was growing right. Hm. Feeling nostalgic indeed.